supporting At 19, he earned a D-1 basketball scholarship

STORY AND PHOTOS BY EMORY DAVIS | SPECIAL TO LINK

Nineteen-year-old Jeramiah Israel received a Division I basketball scholarship to Northern Kentucky University after averaging 21 points his senior year of high school. He starts in the fall. While his scholarship was earned through his basketball skills, he had to face a number of roadblocks to get there.

When he was younger, Israel used to watch mixtapes and highlights of NBA superstars like Steph Curry and Kevin Durant and try to copy their moves in front of his house.

“I got my first basket when I was 5,” Israel said. “Before that, I would watch my older brother play, but I couldn’t because I was too young. A year later, I was finally able to play, and I just fell in love. I remember, I decided I wanted to do something with basketball, it was like sixth grade, and I would come up here (to the local park) over the summer at 6 a.m. and prop my phone up and get some shots up.”

During summers, neighbors would see Israel at the courts in the mornings on their way to work and again on their drive home from work.

“He always would either be in his driveway shooting his basketball or up at Capital (the park next to Israel’s house) shooting his basketball from morning to night. There’s not a time where you drove by and didn’t see him,” said neighbor Gwen Williams, whose sons grew up with Israel and attended Lloyd Memorial High School with him.

Williams, who lives a few houses down from Israel, would sometimes watch Israel shooting hoops outside her window, and he would often come over to borrow her air pump when his basketball got low on air.

“I even go watch him play even after my son has graduated. I like to go up and will tell him I’m proud of him, because I know that can make a difference,” Williams said.

Israel’s neighbors aren’t the only ones who have noticed his work ethic. Faculty at Lloyd also took notice, including some of his teachers and administrators.

“His dedication to get better was incredible,” said Kyle Niederman, the assistant principal and head football coach at Lloyd. “I would open up the weight room before school even started. Jeramiah was always one of the guys that was there at 7 a.m.”

Israel was named to the Tom Leach, All-Resilient Team earlier this year. The award is given to several high school athletes in Kentucky who have endured and overcome adversity within the year the award is offered.

Niederman said there are not many adults, let alone teenagers, with the work ethic and drive that Israel has. But what pushes a 19-year-old to have that kind of drive in the classroom and on the court?

“I’ve got a lot of respect (for Israel). I really do,” he said. “He didn’t get dealt the best hand in life, and I always tell the kids that you’ve got to play the cards. You can’t fold a bad hand, and he certainly hasn’t.”

Niederman thinks many people would crack under the kind of pressure Israel endured.

“I think my sophomore year, I would ride my bike or walk in the cold before school just to try and get some (practice) in,” Israel said. “I used to prop the back door open to the weight room so that way we could still get in on the weekends.”

Israel has had to support his family since he was 14 and said playing basketball has provided an escape since he was a child. He has two younger siblings, who are both diagnosed with autism, and has been living with his grandmother for several years.

She was awarded custody because of his parents’ financial struggles and personal hardships. If not for his grandmother, Israel said, he would have more than likely ended up in foster care. Adapting to and accepting his circumstances has been key to surviving and thriving, he said.

After the COVID-19 pandemic left his grandmother sick and unable to work, Israel and his older brother took care of themselves and supported each other financially by working several part-time jobs. Israel said he worked at two jobs every day, heading to the second one after finishing up at the first.

“Everything seems to work out. Sometimes it’s harder than others, whether it’s transportation or just food. Basketball has been my escape from all of that,” he said. “I just wanted it bad. Just for freedom, peace, being able to do what I love.”

There have been several times in life when he needed to find that peace more than others. A series of challenges made 2018 particularly hard, he said. His grandmother’s house burned down, and the family lived in a hotel for six months. Once the home was habitable again, it was the target of a shooting while he and his siblings were present with his baby nephew. Shortly after, his uncle passed away.

“That was probably the second-scariest time of my life,” said Israel.

The scariest occurred when his younger sibling fell in the bathroom and sustained serious wounds to his back. After hearing a loud bang followed by shrieks from his grandmother, he found his brother with his back severely lacerated after slipping in the shower and shattering the glass door. His brother spent several months in the hospital.

Despite Israel’s hardships and some tough memories, he is persistent in making the best of his situation. His upbringing gave him the mentality to push beyond what anyone believes he is capable of. His goal is to “break the financial chain” and become the first in his immediate family to graduate from college.

“I just see myself hooping at the highest level. It doesn’t matter how I got there or anything like that. I just have to get there. It doesn’t matter what the journey is,” Israel said. “I haven’t done anything much, I’m just getting started, but hopefully I can show these kids around here to stop putting limitations on themselves.”

While he receives plenty of support from those who know him well, Israel said that wasn’t always the case. He said he was never on the Advanced Placement track and sometimes got flak from peers who didn’t believe he could attend a Division I college. “People say college is gonna be hard. I’m prepared for it,” Israel said.

While some peers may have doubted his academic prowess, some of the teachers at Lloyd have faith that he will still succeed.

“He’s a sweet kid. I like any kid who has a goal and is driven. He hadn’t been on the AP track going into year five but he doesn’t give up, he keeps trying, and he knows that if he wants to be successful in basketball he needs to be successful in the classroom,” said Mary Brady, an English teacher at Lloyd Memorial.

She said Israel mostly keeps to himself in the classroom, especially since other students may not be able to relate to his home life. But that doesn’t stop him from actively engaging in the class and striving for success. Israel has responsibilities that far exceed what some adults may face, Brady said, but pushes on a daily basis to be a better version of himself.

“Every time I work out, I think about being the underdog. … I tell myself: As long as someone takes a chance, it’s gonna be great,” Israel said.

Shot clock not coming to Kentucky high school basketball anytime soon

In the last KHSAA Board of Control meeting of the school calendar year, data pulled from a coaches survey showed the state is no closer to a shot clock in basketball. In fact, it’s trending the other way.

Boys and girls high school basketball coaches across the state were surveyed and asked to respond with a “yes” or “no” on the implementation of a 35-second shot clock. The boys coaches voted no by a tally of 137-100; the girls coaches voted no by a tally of 141-91. The same survey was sent out last year, with the boys coaches voting no by 115-97 and the girls coaches voting no by 117-88.

As it stands right now, 17 states have a shot clock for high school basketball; before last year, eight states had a shot clock. The National Federation of State High School Associations announced in May of 2021 it would allow individual states to decide if they wanted to add a 35-second shot clock. Other matters discussed at the Board of Control meeting:

• Boys and girls team tennis championships will be introduced for the 202324 school year and boys volleyball for 2024-25. Those two sports are added on to girls wrestling in 2023-24 and boys and girls lacrosse in 2024-25.

• KHSAA will go back to a one-weekend tournament for state wrestling to be held at Kentucky Horse Park (Alltech Arena) in 2024 and ‘25. In a survey to wrestling coaches, the coaches prefer going back to 32 wrestlers per class at one final site. The way things are set up now is a sectional that leads to the state tournament, which had been held at George Rogers Clark the past few years.

• The release of proposed cross-country and track and field realignment for the next four seasons. The proposed alignment can be found on the KHSAA website.

Albrinck takes over Newport Central Catholic girls basketball program

Dan Albrinck is coming into a good situation on the Hill as the new head coach of the Newport Central Catholic Thoroughbreds girls basketball team.

Albrinck takes over a team with a proud history that finished 17-11 last year and lost in the 9th Region quarterfinals to eventual two-time defending region champion Cooper. All but two seniors from that team in guard Joelle Kinnett and forward Natalie Haigis return.

The Thoroughbreds finished 89-57 the previous five years under head coach Ralph Meyer, winning All “A” 9th Region titles in 2020 and 2021 in his stead. Meyer resigned after the season to spend more time with his family.

Albrinck does not have any varsity head coaching experience, but has coached youth basketball teams at all levels for more than 20 years.. He’s a 1984 NewCath alum and graduated from Thomas More University in 1988 after playing basketball for two years there. Albrinck helped the Thoroughbreds to the 9th Region title his senior year.

Albrinck has experience raising teenagers, having five kids of his own, including an eighth-grade daughter Alaina, who saw action in 18 games last year.

The Thoroughbreds return the region’s leading scorer in sophomore Caroline Eaglin. She averaged 24.8 points and 3.5 rebounds per game.

The likes of junior guard Delaney Green along with sophomore twin forwards Jaylee and Katelyn Brannen also return. Green averaged 7.1 points per game and Jaylee Brannen averaged 7.0 a contest. The Brannen twins are the returning leading rebounders as they both pulled down 5.2 boards a contest.

Albrinck said NewCath has its largest freshman class in recent years coming in next year. The school recently launched a $13 Million Looking Up Capital Campaign with $7.9 designated for the construction of a new multipurpose on-campus athletic complex.

NewCath last won the region championship in 2014. The Thoroughbreds hope to better compete with the Highlands Bluebirds in the 36th District Tournament. Since that 2014 region and district championship, NewCath has only beaten Highlands three times, including twice in the 2021-2022 season with region player of the year Rylee Turner, who just completed her first year at Thomas More. The Thoroughbreds won the district in ’22, the first since ’14.

Albrinck is following in his father Ron’s footsteps as a head basketball coach at NewCath. Ron Albrinck coached the NewCath boys for five years, leading NewCath to the region championship in 1973 before taking the principal job at St. Henry.

Newport High School taps Harris as next girls basketball coach

Harris comes over after being on Ludlow’s boys staff last season under Aaron Stamm and previously served as an assistant coach with the Holy Cross girls team that won the 2015 KHSAA state title.

He replaces Beau Menefee, who resigned after three seasons with the team and a 3732 record.

Harris is a native of Columbus, Ohio, and works as an instructional assistant with the Kenton County School District. He believes his experience and learning from other coaches have taught him the essential traits of building and running a successful program.

The Wildcats finished 11-15 last season and fell in the district semifinals to Newport Central Catholic. Their last region tournament appearance was in 2016. They had just one senior on the roster in 2022-23, Elexis Litton, who led the team in scoring with 13.8 points per game. It was a fairly young Wildcats team with four juniors, two sophomores, four freshmen and two eighth-graders.